Removing Japanese speed limit

[haydar]

Hi all

A friend has a Japanese spec 500CLS that does not go over a certain speed (I think its 180kph or 112mph).

Is there a way of removing this speed restriction?

Thanks

 

[maddog]

Hi all

A friend has a Japanese spec 500CLS that does not go over a certain speed (I think its 180kph or 112mph).

Is there a way of removing this speed restriction?

Thanks

i know for skylines there is a simple de restrictor which you can fit to the speedo which alo converts kmh to mph seeings as they work electronically there is a good chance they will work on any car

have a look on ebay , sppedo convertor or derestrictor ,

 

[vijilants]

Hi all

A friend has a Japanese spec 500CLS that does not go over a certain speed (I think its 180kph or 112mph).

Is there a way of removing this speed restriction?

Thanks

I think the ECU needs to be reprogrammed to remove the spped limite if Im not mistaken.

 

[amwebby]

All Mercedes are speed limited to 155 mph (250 kmh). I don't think there is a specific Japanese limiter.

 

[andy_k]

all cars sold in Japan have these restrictors fitted - you are correct it is 180kph

You just need to find where it is fitted and get it removed

I doubt that it will be programmed into the ECU, it's normally a physical device

One bonus of having them is that in theory the car has never been thrashed

Andy

 

[television]

What a interesting subject,,I have never seen such a thing mentioned on any MB info sheets

 

[recycled]

yes i remember seeing something like that in tokyo drift fast and furious.
Why poice cars do not chase modified cars as they can not catch them over 180kph.
i think their power is also limited to 280bhp.(japanese cars sold in japan)
Not sure if that is correct though

abide by a gentleman's agreement between the Japanese auto manufacturers not to release a car to the public exceeding 280 PS (276 hp) of power output.

 

[amwebby]

Fascinating. Why 180 kph though? What is the national speed limit in Japan?

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Malcolm, maybe the speed limiter is fitted locally by the importer (DCJP?? ) rather than at the factory and hence it's omission on MB info sheets?

 

[LeighW]

All JDM cars are, as previously stated, limited to 180kph/112mph. I've had two grey import cars; a Subaru WRX, and a Mitsubishi Evo, and both had 'reducers' fitted to the speedos after importation which converted the reading from kph to mph, which effectively raises the limiter to 180mph.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Fascinating. Why 180 kph though? What is the national speed limit in Japan?

Urban areas are usually 40km/h, but generally 60km/h except for divided national highways (ie a motorway) where the limit is 100km/h.

 

[st13phil]

I read recently (can't remember where or I would have linked to the article) that Nissan have linked the speed limiter to the GPS system on the very latest Skyline GTR. The GPS "knows" the location of all race tracks in Japan and automatically derestricts the car if it's on a known race circuit. Damn clever, those Japanese...

 

[television]

Malcolm, maybe the speed limiter is fitted locally by the importer (DCJP?? ) rather than at the factory and hence it's omission on MB info sheets?

This must be the case, as I am sure I would have stumbled across something on this

 

[haydar]

With the complexity of MB cars, I'd be surprised if a simple add-on device would actually work? What would be interesting is if it is programmed into the CPU or if its a regional setting in the car parameters.

 

[Howard]

abide by a gentleman's agreement between the Japanese auto manufacturers not to release a car to the public exceeding 280 PS (276 hp) of power output.

IIRC the Japanese government stipulates that no car can be manufactured with more than 280 bhp ... it's not an agreement , it's law ...

Saying that , one performance car magazine ( can't remember which one ) put a late model NSX ( from the factory , not modded ) on a dyno and it was producing well in excess of 350 bhp , and yet the spec sheet quite clearly stated its power output as 280 bhp

 

[LeighW]

IIRC the Japanese government stipulates that no car can be manufactured with more than 280 bhp ... it's not an agreement , it's law ...

It was just an agreement really, but it seems to have been forgotten now. The new Nissan GTR is well over 400bhp.

 

[Mark300SL]

I have imported plenty of Japanese cars myself

The CRX speedo works on a pulse generator XXX pulses per mile, we simply slide a 5/8 divider into the line and change the 180kph speed indicators into the equivalent a 180mph version

On the ECU side of things its slightly more complicated as the speed pulses are used to determine the 112mph limit they effectively move the speed limiter to 180mph ish. This can however affect other speed related items such as A/C shutoff speeds

Mark

 

[haydar]

Would it be possible to have the ECU reprogrammed to a UK spec car?

 

[DansSlk]

Yeah its just a setting in the ECU, like cars sold in the middle east have a beeper in the cluster enabled that goes mad when they break the speed limit thats just a software setting again.

 

[HughJarse]

My Japanese imported MX5 had a screw that you removed from the back of the speedo circuit board.